Teen Scream! 2
by sugarspiceandsin
Summary: modern fic MerlinxArthur. Arthur's a big actor and Merlin's a runner, but corrupt PA's, good friends, unfair landlords and thugs will change their lives forever. slash in later chapter. some merlinxgwaine
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin! I hope you enjoy reading this first chapter, there will be four more to come and I'll try and publish them as soon as possible. I apologise for any grammar errors or spelling mistakes, I haven't got a beta, so if you'd like to be mine message me! Thanks!**_

Chapter One

Merlin could hardly believe his luck. After spending three years studying media production at the University of Westminster, he'd slipped right into a job on the new set for _Teen Scream! 2_, a crossover of Sorority Row and Scream, it promised blood, gore and unexpected twists. Granted, being a runner wasn't what he'd had in mind when he decided to pursue a career in media, but Merlin was willing to take any work. He'd been obsessed with _Teen Scream!_ when it had first been released, so to gain any sort of job working on the sequel was a dream come true. Plus, everyone starts off small in the media industry, you have to work your way up to the top, Merlin thought.

"Are you serious Gwen? I really don't care that it's a runner job, oh my God, just being on the set for two minutes would be amazing, but working there every day and getting to see it all first hand?" Merlin took a deep breath in order to regulate his breathing, "I really don't know what to say, thank you so much! I can't believe you managed to get this for me!"

Gwen's quiet chuckle drifted down the line, as Merlin jumped excitedly up and down on the spot.

"Really Merlin, it's Morgana you need to thank, she's the one who managed to get us both jobs. One of the perks of being Uther Pendragon's favourite person I suppose. Just remember, you need to be on set for 4 tomorrow morning and your hours will probably be unpredictable."

"4 o'clock tomorrow morning, got it. Thank Morgana for me would you Gwen and I'll take you both out for coffee tomorrow!" Merlin gushed as he set his alarm clock for 3am.

After he'd hung up Merlin rang his mum, Hunith. News like this was worth sharing.

Even though Merlin was nowhere near a morning person, he flung himself out of bed as soon as his alarm started its shrill bleeping the next morning. As he brushed his teeth, Merlin silently thanked Morgana a million times over for the opportunity; he owed her big time for this. So did Gwen, who Morgana had managed to find a job in the costume department on _Teen Scream! 2_ and Merlin was sure Gwen would make an excellent addition to the team, dismissive of her nervous worrying. Morgana herself worked in makeup for the film, creating the gruesome wounds and perfect complexions of the characters. After swallowing down some breakfast, Merlin took the tube to the set and was relieved to see Gwen's familiar brown hair just a few feet ahead on the street. Together they walked into the impressive building that hid a whole new world inside it.

Merlin's first day on set was better than he could ever have dreamed of. Although some of the film members treated him like he was nothing more than dirt on the bottom of their shoe, he found most of his colleagues to be pleasant, friendly people, who seemed more interested in getting to know him, than actually sending him for things. One of the main actresses, Vivian Olaf, engaged him in a delightful conversation about the charity work she was doing for cancer patients when he picked her up from her hotel to take her to the set. Later, when he dropped off the script at Elena Godwyn's dressing room, she gave him one of her chocolates and told him to drop by anytime for a chat. At lunch he met up with Gwen and Morgana to have that coffee he'd promised them, where they swapped stories about their day and laughed at the mistakes each other had made at work. It was decided that Merlin had the most embarrassing moment out of the three of them, he'd walked in on one of the supporting actresses, only to discover her taking out her 'chicken fillets'.

"I knew they were fake!" Morgana cackled, as she and Gwen supported themselves on the table, shaking with laughter.

"She was alright with it though when I told her I was gay!" Merlin exclaimed, "I believe she said something along the lines of, oh well, at least you don't care about the size of my boobs, I don't want plastic surgery you see. Then she went off on a rant about plastic surgery and big boobs, which she obviously expected me to agree with. I mean, really!"

"Oh you definitely win," Gwen gasped, wiping tears from her eyes, "this even beats me sending a silk night gown to Arthur Pendragon by mistake! His PA Sophia was furious; she thought I'd done it on purpose, trying to mock his bisexuality."

Merlin, who had been taking a gulp of coffee, choked half way through and spat the liquid all over the table.

"Arthur Pendragon?" he spluttered.

It was no secret that Merlin harboured a strong attraction for the famous British actor, for years Gwen and Morgana constantly ribbed him for owning all of his films on DVD. Morgana was close with the Pendragon family and almost considered Arthur as a brother, but maintained the idea that he wasn't anything special, as the two frequently disagreed. Merlin couldn't understand Morgana's indifference for the golden haired beauty, though he never told her that, he wasn't stupid enough to rile Morgana into a fury.

"You never said he was working on the film!"

"Well I didn't know until today! Apparently he and Uther had a big row about the role, Arthur was keen to do it but Uther thought it was a step down from his other features," Gwen said.

Morgana nodded her confirmation, "Uther's furious with him at the moment, but Arthur's stuck with his decision. It's certainly gained him some respect points in my opinion."

Merlin was also quite surprised that Arthur hadn't backed down to his father, from Morgana's stories it was all Arthur seemed to do. Though Merlin couldn't understand why Uther thought he knew what was best for his sons' career, it wasn't like he had his own job within the industry, in fact, as far as Merlin was aware, Uther didn't seem to do anything.

"Don't worry about him Merlin," Gwen advised, "it's unlikely you'll actually bump into him."

Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you looked at it), Gwen's words came true. Merlin was on high alert for the rest of the day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive 'Pendragon Prince' as he was branded by the media. The hours seemed to fly by and before he knew it, Merlin's day was over and he had not been graced with Arthur's presence. He wasn't deterred though, there was still another 4 months of pre-production work and then 3 months of filming, there'd be plenty of time to ogle at Arthur from the sidelines.

As it happened, Merlin didn't have to wait months to get his first interaction with Arthur Pendragon. No, it turned out to occur on the second day of his new job. Merlin had just spent 20 minutes introducing Morgana and Gwen to Elena and the four of them had bonded over salad and chocolate cake. Now, turning the corner Merlin was treated to the vision that was Arthur brandishing a polythene cup at a small, fragile, brown haired girl who seemed to be restraining herself from cowering.

"I'm so sorry Mr Pendragon, I must have mixed up yours and Miss Olaf's drinks, I can go out and get you a new one..."

"This is the third time so far! Are you really that incompetent that you can't even hand me my drink? I have told you time and time again that I cannot drink green tea because it is bad for my health, yet you persist on giving me Vivian's herbal teas! I'm tempted to go and report you to your employer right now!"

"Oh please Mr Pendragon, please don't do that! I'm sorry I really am, I won't make a mistake ever again I promise!"

Arthur, red faced and furious, opened his mouth to start another angry tirade when Merlin stepped smoothly in.

"I'm sorry Mr Pendragon, give me five minutes and I'll have your coffee ready for you," Merlin smiled at the girl, Freya. She was a sweet girl, but shy and it caused her to become nervous around the celebrities, make mistakes and then get more nervous. "It was an honest mistake on Freya's part, but we'll sort something out so this type of thing doesn't happen again."

Merlin was pretty pleased with himself, he thought he'd be quite charming and professional considering his insides were doing the tango at his close proximity with Arthur. However, his pride was dashed when Arthur turned towards him with a sneer on his face and said,

"It better not happen again or I'll personally make sure she's fired." He thrust Vivian's tea into Merlin's hands, "From now on you fetch all my drinks rather than this babbling fool."

Merlin handed Freya the drink and with a grateful smile she took the opportunity to escape, leaving Merlin and Arthur alone and though Arthur didn't know it, Merlin had a few choice words to say.

"Mr Pendragon?" Merlin said as Arthur turned to enter his dressing room, "I just like to say something," he ignored Arthur's long suffering sigh and continued, "I think how you reacted about one cup of coffee was disgusting, Freya only made a few mistakes and you penalized her cruelly for it just because she is a runner and you're the actor so you thought it was okay. Just because you have the better career it doesn't mean you can treat people like that, everyone is equal and deserves the same amount of respect, regardless."

Arthur face was so red, Merlin thought for a moment he might actually explode in anger and he had a heart stopping moment where Merlin imagined himself trying to explain to the director that Mr Pendragon couldn't work today because he was in little pieces outside his dressing room door.

"How dare you! How dare you speak to me like that!" Arthur shouted.

"With all due respect Mr Pendragon, I'm speaking to you with more cordiality than you did toward Freya. You know, I've always liked the films you'd been in and heard so much about you from Morgana that I thought you were a good person, but now I know better," and he started to walk away.

"So you're Merlin then."

It wasn't a question; just a statement and Merlin didn't feel obliged to confirm Arthur's assumption. Arthur's words however did make Merlin think, had Morgana been swapping stories about him and Gwen to Arthur? Had she mentioned his attraction to him? He'd kill her if she had. The thought of Arthur knowing about Merlin's feelings made his cheeks burn and he turned away.

"I'll go and fetch your coffee Mr Pendragon."

For the rest of the week Merlin was so busy that he didn't have a chance to speak to either Morgana or Gwen and tell them about his run-in with Arthur. In the end though, it was Morgana who actually broached the subject when she invited both Gwen and Merlin over to her apartment for dinner.

"So Merlin, I heard you put Arthur in his place a few days ago," Morgana smirked as she served up her Italian chicken.

Gwen, who had been reaching down to her bag, shot up so fast in her chair that she banged her head on the table and upset the salt and pepper.

"You did what? Merlin, what did you do?" she gasped, rubbing the spot which she'd hit.

Merlin recounted his and Arthur's conversation, amused at Gwen's shocked face and Morgana's laughter. It wasn't a surprise that Morgana whole heartedly approved of Merlin's outspoken behaviour, nor that Gwen's feelings were torn between amusement and disapproval.

"He hasn't spoken of anything else since that day, or anyone else for that matter," Morgana slyly commented, "it seems you made quite an impression on him Merlin."

"What kind of impression would that be though?" Merlin asked, almost dreading the answer. He didn't regret what he said; he just regretted saying them to Arthur. The man was practically his idol for God's sake!

"Well at first he was furious that you'd dared to speak to him like that, he was in a towering temper," Morgana looked gleeful, "but he eventually stopped being angry and is now quite fascinated with you, he keeps asking me all these questions. I think he likes the fact that you stood up to him, he always did like people with a fiery personality."

Merlin blushed.

After learning of Arthur's new found interest in him, Merlin seemed to be hyper aware of Arthur's presence whenever they crossed paths. Unfortunately, when they did cross paths it just brought about more arguments between the two of them. On Monday, Merlin stated that he wasn't a robot and who the bloody hell timed their coffee arrival anyway when he was apparently "2 minutes and 48 seconds late" with Arthur's coffee. On Wednesday, Arthur angrily told Merlin to look where he was going and to stop being a bumbling fool when they walked into each other in the costume department. Thursday saw a full blown shouting match between them when Merlin caught Arthur berating another runner for some mistake or another. This was punctuated with glares across the room when they weren't within conversing distance towards one another and Merlin was slowly becoming more upset with the negative relationship that was forming between them. Morgana had a different outlook on their interactions to Merlin.

"He's still talking about you, asking me questions every time I see him. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it; he's becoming almost as obsessed with you as you are with him!"

His frequent fights with Arthur also gained him some unwanted attention from Arthur's PA, Sophia Sidhe. She cornered him one day as he was walking from one end of the building to the other to pass on a message. Merlin had noticed her before, stalking around the place as though she owned it and, although he'd never admit it; she put out a rather menacing air.

"Merlin, it is Merlin right? You're the one who keeps having those rather... public arguments with Arthur yes? Well, that has to cease immediately. You see, unlike you, Mr Pendragon has an image to maintain and I need this image to never be tainted publicly as he won't be happy with me. That can never happen!" For a second Sophia looked half crazed, but the look passed as quickly as it came, "If I hear that you have been causing arguments between you and Mr Pendragon ever again, I will make sure that it _can't_ happen ever again."

With that she left, leaving a slightly shaken Merlin to release the breath he had been holding while he watched her retreating form.

Merlin heeded Sophia's warning and for the next couple of weeks kept a civil attitude whenever he and Arthur were together. Not only did this get Sophia off his back, for she had been watching him like a hawk, but it also meant that he and Arthur had started becoming acquaintances in a sense, they didn't bare any bad feelings towards one another and shared jokes with each other about other production members, just as Merlin did with Elena and Vivian. Now that they weren't arguing, Merlin was starting to see the nicer, more honourable side of Arthur's personality and it wasn't helping his growing attraction towards the man. Morgana was still insisting that Arthur was quite keen to know all about Merlin, however Merlin knew otherwise. He'd first met Arthur's 'lady friend' Mithian when she was leaving his dressing room with her blouse buttons buttoned up wrong and when he'd entered the dressing room his suspicions were confirmed, the whole room smelt of sex and sweat.

Today, Mithian was round again. Merlin had walked past Arthur's room about 5 minutes ago and had heard all the giggling and moaning that accompanied Mithian's visits. He was rather surprised then when he saw Uther Pendragon in the foyer of the site next to Sophia, waving to Morgana who was walking over to them.

"Arthur is expecting my visit?" Uther inquired.

"Certainly sir, I made sure his afternoon was completely free for you" Sophia replied with a secret smile.

Merlin span on his heel and ran back to Arthur's dressing room as fast as he could. Thankfully, Uther was getting old now and relied on a walking stick, so his and Sophia's walk to Arthur's room would be relatively slow and if Merlin made it there with enough time to warn Arthur, Uther never need know Mithian was there. Panting, Merlin thrust open the door and slammed it shut behind him. There was a moment of stunned silence, where Merlin took in the form of Mithian and Arthur laying on the sofa and the couple stared at the unexpected intruder. Ignoring the spike of jealousy he felt at the sight of the two, Merlin cut across Arthur's indignant exclamation to breathlessly inform them of Uther's arrival. Arthur bolted off the sofa faster than Merlin expected of him and started to pull on his clothes at top speed, whilst Merlin ran around the room picking up the furthest discarded clothes and threw them to their owners. Mithian was gone in less than two minutes, walking briskly away from Arthur's room and in the opposite direction of Uther. Once she had left Merlin pulled out a bottle of air freshener and sprayed it around the room, while Arthur looked on incredulously.

"I didn't know I had any air freshener in here" he commented.

"You didn't," Merlin replied, "I brought it for my own comfort when Mithian began visiting." He turned and took in Arthur's flushed and bedraggled form, "Come here, we need to smarten you up," he stated, so he fiddled with Arthur's collar and smoothed down his hair. The irrational part of his brain reminded him that if he and Arthur were together he would be doing things like this on a daily basis. One last smooth of his hair, where Merlin's fingers may or may not have run through Arthur's strands for Merlin's own fantasies and Arthur looked presentable and normal.

"There you go," Merlin smiled, stepping back to observe his work, "it's like nothing happened."

"Why is my father even here? He never just turns up without making an arrangement beforehand and Sophia told me that I had the whole afternoon free!" Arthur ranted.

"Calm down, you'll make yourself all hot and bothered again! Look all I know is that your father inquired as to your knowledge of his arrival and Sophia assured him that you knew and that she'd kept your afternoon free for him."

"But why would she do that?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know, but now isn't the time to be talking about it, your father will be here any minute!"

"Right, you're right. For a change," a quick grin softened the insult, "I need to be working to assure my father that I'm not taking this role for a joke like he thinks I am."

"Why did you take the role?" Merlin asked without thinking.

Arthur looked at him for a moment, almost as though he was sizing him up and then replied, "I loved the first _Teen Scream!_ so I was eager to be in the sequel when it was released that they were producing one, plus I'd like to show the public that Hollywood actors aren't all about money and riches I suppose... if that makes sense."

"That makes perfect sense," Merlin reassured him with a smile, "you know, I loved _Teen Scream!_ as well. Working here, even as a runner is amazing."

"Even more amazing because I'm working here too right? You said you liked my movies, so my presence here would be an amazing bonus," winked Arthur.

"No comment," said Merlin seriously, "we wouldn't want to over inflate that enormous head of yours."

Arthur smiled, a warm, crinkly smile that gave Merlin butterflies and his heart falter momentarily. Just as Arthur opened his mouth to reply, Merlin heard the slow shuffle of what were surely Uther's footsteps and the muffled steps of high heels that would only belong to Sophia. He snatched Arthur's script off the coffee table and tossed it to Arthur, who despite his confusion caught it.

"Your father!" Merlin whispered as an explanation, "Pretend you're rehearsing your lines with me or something!"

Arthur flicked the pages to a random segment and began to read just as the door was opened by Uther and Sophia, who had an expectant look upon her face which changed to confusion when she saw only Arthur and Merlin in the room, instead of an Arthur and Mithian in a state of undress.

"Arthur." Uther nodded curtly in greeting, which Arthur copied.

Uther then turned to Merlin.

"You, leave."

With a nod to Uther and a smile to Arthur, Merlin left, grateful to leave the tension in the room behind. However, the two burning spots on the back of his head from Sophia's piercing gaze warned him that he might not be free from the tension after all.

The next day Arthur called Merlin to see him and thanked him, somewhat stiffly as though he didn't do it often, for warning him about his father's arrival.

"He didn't suspect anything thanks to your quick actions and thinking. Two things I didn't expect you to be in possession of, but I was proved wrong," at Merlin's raised eyebrows, he backtracked, "I really am grateful to you, if my father had found me with Mithian, well, he would have been furious. I've decided that it is a risk that I cannot continue to take, so Mithian will not be visiting anymore, which you'll be pleased about. What? I could tell you didn't like her all that much! Anyway, I also have a favour to ask of you. Sophia's actions yesterday, although it pains me to say it, were deceptive and suspicious, something I never thought her capable of being, but it seems she is also full of surprises. I would be grateful, even more so, if you could keep an eye on her somewhat. Of course I will be also looking into her actions, but as she is not with me for parts of the day..."

By the end of Arthur's monologue, Merlin had agreed to keep an eye on Sophia for him, though if he was honest with himself, he would never and could never refuse Arthur anything. It became apparent however, that Merlin wouldn't have to work too hard to keep an eye on Sophia, as she appeared to be keeping an eye on him and it was starting to make Merlin feel uneasy. She seemed to be outraged at Merlin and Arthur's new found closeness, they met in Arthur's dressing room usually three times a day since the 'Uther Incident' and talked for around an hour each time, having conversations that Sophia was never present for.

A week, it transpired, was all Sophia could stand of this new interaction, so on Merlin's fifth Monday working in _Teen Scream! 2_ she found him in Arthur's dressing room with lunch, waiting for Arthur to return from his costume fitting to have a chat.

"You!" she spat advancing upon him, "you have ruined everything! You have ruined my entire plan! Arthur is now more cautious around me and you have both been watching me, it's useless really! Arthur may not be seeing Mithian anymore, but there'll soon be another one and this time Uther will find them together!"

"Why would you even want that?" Merlin interrupted, "what would you gain from it?"

Sophia laughed humorously, "Not only will Uther be furious with Arthur, maybe even angry enough to have a heart attack; he will fire me immediately, meaning that I have the right to go to a newspaper and sell my heartbreaking story of my cruel employers, Uther and Arthur Pendragon. The Pendragon name will be dragged through the mud and if I file a lawsuit I may even end up with some of that money they've got lying around."

"That's ridiculous. Possibly the worst plan I have ever heard. If you did file a lawsuit, Uther would hire lawyers that would make yours look like schoolboys. Besides nobody would believe a story about Arthur being cruel to his employees; he's practically the male version of Princess Diana!" Merlin exclaimed.

"Is that what you see him as Merlin?" Sophia taunted, her eyes narrowed, "do you see him as royalty? A God-like figure? Is that why you're so attracted to him? Oh I know all about your little crush, it's blindingly obvious to everyone. Why else do you think Arthur talks to you? Because he feels sorry for the pathetic little runner with the crush. He has no interest in you, you're just there because he pities you and you stroke his ego."

The words were like knives, stabbing Merlin in the stomach repeatedly with every syllable Sophia uttered. No, that's not true! Merlin thought, we're becoming good friends! But the words echoed in his head and Sophia's face was swimming before him, blurred by tears threatening to spill over.

"You're nothing to him Merlin. Nothing. That's why when I get rid of your aggravating presence, he won't even notice, won't even care, won't even bother to look for you. He'll have forgotten all about you in a few hours and trust me Merlin, I am going to be rid of you. I'm going to make sure that your sorry ass is fired today and that you will never get another job in any media occupation, in any company, in any part of the world. Being Arthur's PA gives you a lot of influence," she smirked.

"It does," a voice from the doorway agreed, "if you're actually in that position and you Sophia are not."

Arthur stood in the door, his hair mussed from having tried on so many clothes, his arms folded and his face contorted into a look of fury.

"Arthur!" Sophia exclaimed, "Merlin and I were just having a chat –"

"Oh I know, I heard," Arthur replied, his voice ominously low, "Sophia, you're fired. I never want to see your face again and _I_ will make sure that you never get a job as someone's PA ever again."

He stepped out the doorway and Sophia flounced toward it. Just as she reached the door however, she paused and turned around to look back at Merlin.

"This isn't over," she promised and then she was gone.

Arthur closed the door behind her and Merlin took the opportunity to check his emotions. He ran his hand quickly over his eyes, wiping away any remaining traces of tears and forced his face into a watery smile.

"I got lunch," Merlin smiled and waved the Subway sandwich bag.

"Merlin," Arthur said seriously, "you know those things she said aren't true? I would notice if you left, I would care and I would try to find you, you know that right?" When Merlin didn't answer Arthur continued, "Look, I don't know about you, but recently with our chats and everything, I've started to view you as a good friend and I don't have many of those, so I'm not likely to let you slip away."

When Merlin looked at Arthur he was rubbing the back of his neck, an action he always did when he was embarrassed Merlin had noticed.

Into the silence that had fell Merlin said quietly, "Thank you, I consider you as a good friend too."

Arthur's face broke out into a grin.

After they had filled themselves with their sandwiches and were sitting their contentedly, Arthur broke the sleepy silence.

"Merlin, you're not going to be a runner anymore."

"What?" Merlin looked over at Arthur, his heart sinking and stomach rolling, was Arthur actually going to fire him over this Sophia thing? Did Arthur even have the power to do that?

"Don't panic!" Arthur said hastily, "I just thought, I need a new PA now and you'd fit the role, so you're my new PA."

"Hold on, I haven't said yes yet!" Merlin cried indignantly.

"Yeah, but we both know you will."

"But I haven't got any idea how to be a PA!"

"You'll pick it up along the way" Arthur said casually as he tossed his Subway wrapper into the bin.

Arthur was sort of right, Merlin thought grudgingly, being a PA wasn't much different to being a runner, except you had more authority, so Merlin didn't find it very hard to adjust. Spending so much time with Arthur took its toll sometimes, Arthur would either aggravate him to distraction or do little things that would make Merlin want to kiss him. His brain was also having an easier time imagining what life would be like if the two of them were a couple, as all the time together had allowed Merlin to pick up on all Arthur's quirks: he always looked at the comics first when he picked up the newspaper, he rubbed his jaw unconsciously when he was lying and he liked to hum when he was concentrating on a task, something that Merlin found adorable. Their relationship was also strengthening from that tentative friendship into, well, Merlin would like to say best friends, but he didn't want to push his luck. Morgana, Gwen and Hunith were ecstatic about Merlin's promotion, though Morgana still insisted that Arthur's decision was swayed heavily by his feelings for Merlin, an interpretation that Merlin scoffed at. Life was going well for Merlin and he was happier than he'd been by far, until the attack.

Merlin was walking back to his flat from the tube station at around 10pm, when he noticed a figure walking a few feet behind him who'd been doing so for the last 10 minutes. Panic bubbled in his chest and Merlin started to reflexively walk faster to get away from the possible threat. His panic only increased when the person behind matched his faster pace and Merlin lost his head, so he ran, but the figure behind began to run as well with steady strides that indicated a good level of fitness. Merlin's coltish legs were not really made for exercise; therefore it wasn't long until his legs got entangled and he fell to the ground, scraping his palms against the tarmac and banging his knees. Before Merlin could move, there was a weight on top of him preventing him from escaping and a grubby hand was over his mouth.

"Me and you have some business to talk about sonny boy," the stranger growled and he hauled Merlin off the ground and dragged him into an alleyway.

Merlin began to shake with fear as the streetlights glow disappeared and compressing darkness surrounded him, he could feel blood running down his shin, he'd cut his knee when he'd fallen. Suddenly, Merlin was thrown to the floor and by the starlight he could see a white male, with big muscles, short brown hair and a twisted smile.

"Hullo Merlin, I'm Valiant" he said.

Merlin just blinked, lying in the position he'd fallen in, shock and fear freezing him. How did this stranger know his name? Why was he telling me his name? Is he going the kill me, 'cause then it wouldn't matter? Or is it a false name? thought Merlin hysterically.

"Sophia called me a few days ago; she said you needed to be taught a lesson and Arthur Pendragon needed to be sent a warning. So if you're the pupil, I guess this makes me the teacher, wouldn't you agree?"

At Sophia's name Merlin had tensed up even more if possible, his jaw was clenched together so tightly Merlin didn't think he could have answered, even if he'd wanted to.

"You know Merlin, I asked a question. You're supposed to answer, but you didn't, so I guess the lesson begins."

Merlin opened his mouth hurriedly to answer Valiant's question, but the first kick caught him in the stomach and all that escaped was a rush of air. Then the blows rained down, punching, kicking, slapping, no part of his body was left unharmed. Valiant stamped down in his army boots on Merlin's fingers and Merlin felt at least two of them break. A rib cracked under the force of Valiant's punches, shooting fire down Merlin's side and causing him to cry out. A punch to the face punished his verbal reaction and a hand grasped his throat, cutting off Merlin's air. Merlin's useless fingers scrabbled against Valiant's hold around his throat, as his head was banged repeatedly into the ground causing a roaring in his ears. Just as Merlin's vision started to black, Valiant let go of his throat and Merlin sucked in precious air, his raw throat flaring with pain. The next part to be attack was Merlin's legs, Valiant seemed intent on breaking a bone, stamping and kicking, but thankfully one of Merlin's legs kicked out as he tried to defend himself and hit Valiant in the crotch. While Valiant was distracted, Merlin tried to get away but any movement set his whole body on fire and doused him in agony, impeding his speed. He carried on regardless; however Valiant was dragging him back by his hair before he'd even gone 5cm. For a few seconds Valiant just stood above him staring down at his work and when Merlin looked back at him, he was horrified to see a bulge in Valiant trousers.

"Oh you needn't worry about that. Yet. As pretty as you are, Sophia only paid me to teach you a lesson, so I guess I'll just have to jerk off thinking about this when I get home," Valiant said when he noticed Merlin's gaze, "Just one last thing."

And he kicked Merlin in the crotch, laughing as Merlin curled instinctively in on himself and then cried out when his broken rib sent waves of agony through his body. The combined pain was too much and Merlin blacked out.

When he awoke, sunlight was shining into the alleyway and Merlin felt, if possible, worse than he did during the attack. Tears ran down his face as he remembered last night and he closed his eyes again, wishing for the world to fade away. The next time Merlin came back into consciousness was because of his iPhone vibrating in his pocket, making his bruises throb with the rhythm. Arthur had brought him the new model to replace his ancient mobile when he'd become his PA and miraculously it had survived the brutal attack without a scratch on it. Using his good hand to pull the phone out of his pocket and his unbroken little finger to answer the call, Merlin sobbed with relief when he heard Arthur's worried voice on the other end.

"Merlin? Merlin, what's wrong? Why aren't you here? Merlin, are you crying? Merlin? Merlin, where are you?" Arthur called down the phone, his panic seeping through more and more as Merlin didn't answer.

Finally, Merlin calmed down enough to give Arthur a rough idea of where he was in between sobs and hiccups that jostled his rib, causing him to gasp in pain. Arthur kept on the call as he got into his car and gave the driver the location, asking him questions and reassuring him, while Merlin just listened, holding onto Arthur's voice as though it were a life jacket and he was floating in the sea.

About 15 minutes later, Merlin heard a car door slam and footsteps running along the pavement both through his mobile and in his surroundings.

"Arthur," he called, the words burning his strangled throat and only emitting a hoarse whisper, but as though he had heard it, Arthur rushed around the corner his eyes wide and panicked.

The sun was blocked by Arthur's head, creating a golden glow that bounced off his blonde hair and for that short moment, Merlin was convinced that Arthur was his guardian angel. But then Arthur rushed forward and dropped to his knees beside Merlin, looking both furious and shocked at his friends' state. Blood was pooling around his head, two of his fingers stuck out at odd angles, vivid, finger shaped bruises coloured his pale neck, dried blood crusted his nose, supported by two black eyes and a split lip and bruises covered every inch of skin that could be seen.

"Merlin, we have to get you to the hospital" Arthur said a tremor in his voice, "I'm going to pick you up okay? Is there any other injury I should know about?"

"I think a few of my ribs are broken" Merlin whispered.

Arthur chewed his lip, "If I move you I might damage them further and cause you a lot of pain."

"I trust you," Merlin said honestly.

Arthur smiled a small smile in spite of himself, "Yes, but I don't, I'm going to call 999."

After he'd made the call, Arthur took his jacket off and draped it over Merlin, the material drowning his lanky frame. When Merlin felt another hand take his good one in a grasp, he flinched and then relaxed when he realised it was only Arthur and that flinching really hurt. There the two of them sat, holding hands, Arthur muttering about nonsense things, until the paramedics arrived and injected Merlin with something, he wasn't sure what, he hoped it was morphine.

"Arthur?" he asked as they loaded him into the ambulance.

"I'm right here Merlin," Arthur reassured as he clambered in after Merlin was secure.

"Arthur, it was Sophia, she hired a man named Valiant," Merlin slurred, as the drugs began to take effect, it was important Arthur knew he could be in danger, "I was supposed to be a warning to you."

Then Merlin knew no more.

The next time Merlin regained consciousness was a week later and he pulled his eyes open to find Hunith, Morgana, Gwen and Arthur standing around his bed all smiling down at him.

"Oh Merlin," Hunith whispered, she looked like she wanted to fling her arms around him, he was very glad she hadn't, he still felt very sore.

He smiled at each of them in turn and then looked at Arthur.

"What's happened with Sophia?" he demanded. There was no point beating around the bush, he wanted to know that Arthur was going to be safe, that Sophia and Valiant had been locked up and could never hurt anyone ever again.

"Not to be distracted I see," Arthur smiled, "you're still the same stubborn Merlin. They're in prison; I think it's the fastest court case anyone has ever seen. I told my father about what happened and how you were my 'warning' and he fell on them like a pack on hounds, he's got a lot of influence and power which helped I suppose."

Merlin sighed with relief, to know that they were behind bars was comforting, but it didn't dispel all of his anxiety, which would only heal with time. He spent the next few hours talking about the news, his injuries and the progress on _Teen Scream! 2_ with Hunith, Morgana and Gwen, while Arthur went home to shower and change.

"He's been sleeping here you know," Hunith said with a wink, "didn't want to leave you alone."

Merlin blushed.

True to his word, Arthur came back at 7pm precisely and the women left for a good night's sleep after kisses goodbye.

"You don't have to stay you know," Merlin muttered, cheeks flaming, "If it's an inconvenience to you or anything, I will be okay on my own."

"Of course you will be," Arthur agreed in a placating sort of way, "but I'll stay all the same."

As Merlin's eyes were starting to droop, Arthur's hand found his and interlinked their fingers, causing a smile to spread across Merlin's face and a little blossom of warmth to ignite in his chest.

They fell asleep together, still holding hands and it seemed to Merlin, that as long as he had Arthur, everything was going to be alright.

**_Chapter two will be up as soon as possible!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin! I'd like to apologise for all the bold text in the last chapter, it wasn't intentional and I'm still not sure how I did it! I also apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I'm back at college and now have work to do as well, but I will try my hardest to have each chapter complete in a week! Anyway, thank you again for the lovely comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you seemed to enjoy the last! Happy reading!**_

Chapter 2

Once out of the hospital, Merlin spent a week down in Ealdor with his mum, as Arthur had granted him extra time off to take a mini holiday in which to recuperate. With his fingers strapped together and ribs bandaged up, Merlin was grateful for his mother's care, as he was finding it difficult to accomplish the easiest of tasks. His frustration reached its boiling point on the Friday night of his stay, after trying to cut his chicken for the sixth time and failing, Merlin pushed his plate towards Hunith who had been watching his efforts silently and now took up the knife and fork to cut the food into bite-sized chunks.

"It'll get easier soon love, you've just got to be patient," she murmured.

Merlin just huffed in reply, but offered her a swift, thankful smile when she gave him back his plate.

Saturday afternoon, Merlin's channel hopping was interrupted by a knock on the door. Thinking it was Will who'd come over to see him again, Merlin hesitated about answering, he really didn't feel like watching Will play Call of Duty for an hour or so again and he was wearing the same sweats he was yesterday. However, the manners that Hunith had installed within him left no room for arguments and resignedly, Merlin gingerly lifted himself off the sofa and answered the door. Instead of Will's beaming face, Merlin was greeted by Arthur, wearing sunglasses, a plain white t-shirt, blue skinny jeans and a grey hoodie, which he wore with the hood up. It wasn't just the shock of seeing Arthur at his childhood home that left him gaping like an idiot, it was also the fact that Merlin had never seen Arthur in such casual clothes before and the sight was making his mouth water and his head spin a little with desire.

"Have you just got out of bed?" Arthur said disapprovingly in way of greeting, "because you've got a serious case of bed hair. It suits you though, makes you look all cute and innocent."

When Merlin didn't reply, Arthur fidgeted and Merlin noticed the overnight bag Arthur was holding.

"Merlin, are you going to let me in? It's rude to leave people on your doorstep for so long," Arthur chastised, but a smile was playing at the edge of his lips.

Silently, Merlin moved aside and Arthur stepped into the house, looking at all the photos of Merlin hanging in the hallway. Like a shadow, Merlin followed Arthur as he took himself on a tour of the house, taking in Arthur's appraising and somewhat contented expression as he looked around and also how good Arthur's ass looked in those jeans. It was only when Arthur started to pour himself a glass of orange juice that Merlin came out of his trance.

"Make yourself at home," he said sarcastically, with a fond roll of his eyes.

"He speaks!" Arthur cried in mock celebration, "For a moment there I thought my sheer good looks had rendered you useless."

"They did," replied Merlin seriously as he poured his own glass of orange juice, "but then I remembered how much of a prat you are and everything was fine. So, why the impromptu visit?"

"I thought I'd come down and see how you were doing, make sure you are okay to return to work on Monday."

Merlin nodded, "Yeah sure, I'm fine to come back to work as long as there's no heavy lifting."

A look of relief swept across Arthur's face that made Merlin amused, "Good, because although you're the worst PA I've ever had, you're the only PA I've got."

"How many appointments have you missed?" Merlin asked innocently, keeping his face straight.

"Never you mind," Arthur replied as he drained the last of his drink and Merlin laughed, "anyway, where's Hunith?"

During Merlin's time in hospital Arthur and Hunith had struck up a good relationship between one another and Hunith had even mentioned to Merlin that she wouldn't mind if he 'became part of the family' which was about as tactful as she could be. Arthur had also said that Hunith was like his own Mrs Weasley, a sort of substitute mother figure and their fondness for each other was fairly obvious to most.

"She's out at Mrs Cooper's tonight to play cards, so I was planning on watching bad TV for the evening."

Having the TV on when he was home alone gave Merlin a small piece of security, it drowned out the creaks and groans of the house that set him on edge and the light helped to banish the darkness outside, both of which he had become frightened of since the attack.

"Sounds good," Arthur was saying, "mind if I join you?"

"Sure why not, I gather from the overnight bag you're intending on staying too?" Merlin asked.

"I prearranged it with Hunith, I mentioned I would visit and she insisted I stayed the night. She's a determined woman your mother."

Merlin agreed and they spent an enjoyable evening recounting old childhood stories, getting to know each other better, laughing and joking. Sometime during their talk Merlin fell asleep on Arthur's shoulder, Arthur's presence allowing him to fall asleep easily, wrapped up in a blanket of safety and warmth.

After they'd had breakfast and said goodbye to Hunith, Arthur drove him and Merlin back to London and their evening chat carried on from where it left off the night before. A little while into the journey Arthur pulled a business card from out of the glove compartment and handed it to Merlin.

"He's a family friend of mine who is a well known therapist. I've booked you a few appointments with him, just so you can talk about how you're doing to someone who might be able to help you with any problems you may have. Your first meeting's on Wednesday evening at 6, two weeks from now. He's a good guy, you'll like him," Arthur said, in a tone that left no disagreements.

**

On Wednesday night, Merlin found himself sitting in The Rising Sun pub with Morgana and Gwen, awaiting the arrival of the elusive boyfriend Leon whom Morgana had been gushing about, which was very unlike Morgana. In fact, Merlin didn't think he'd ever seen Morgana this nervous, she kept alternating between drumming her fingers on the sticky table, to shooting nervous glances between him, Gwen and the door and then checking her wristwatch. It looked like she'd practically explode with her nerves if this 'Leon' didn't turn up soon, Merlin thought.

Then almost as if his thoughts had been heard, a man with longish ginger hair and rugged beard the same colour to match, burst through the pub doors looking almost as anxious as Morgana. However, when Merlin glanced back over to Morgana to determine how she was holding up, they had been waiting for 20 minutes now, he was surprised to see a large smile gracing her face as she was excitedly waving to the man who'd just burst in, who was striding towards their table with his own grin in place and a friend trailing behind him. The first impression Merlin had of Leon was that he was exceedingly polite and Merlin did not understand how Leon and Morgana were in a serious relationship, as their personalities were so different.

"Awfully sorry about making you all wait for us, we didn't plan on being late," Leon said for the umpteenth time, when he was shaking Merlin's hand during the introductions.

"Leon," Morgana's voice was sharp, "it's alright!" Then she asked with a significant raise of the eyebrows, "where's your _other _friend?"

"He's outside paying the taxi driver as punishment for making us late," the friend introduced as Lance answered, as he beamed at Gwen, who blushed.

There was some shuffling around to accommodate the newcomers; Merlin gave up his seat next to Morgana to allow Leon to sit there, an act which earned him a small but grateful smile. Lance had also taken the seat next to Gwen, who didn't look bothered by it at all, so Merlin didn't feel the need to intervene and sat on the seat next to Leon with his back to the pub door. Lance had offered to get the first round in and had come back with everyone's orders balanced precariously in his arms. Gwen jumped up to help him leaving Merlin and Morgana to smirk at one another, Gwen really liked this guy it seemed and from the beaming smiles he'd been sending her the last 10 minutes, he rather liked her also.

Merlin had just finished wiping tears of laughter from his eyes due to one of Leon and Lance's stories, the pair of them were brilliant storytellers, when he reached for his pint. However, before he could even pick up his glass a tanned hand wrapped around his drink from behind him and pulled it towards its owner.

"Hey!" Merlin cried indignantly, turning to face the perpetrator, only to be met with a smirking Arthur. Again. "You wanker!" Merlin huffed, hitting him on the arm for good measure, "I thought some weirdo had run off with my drink," then Merlin paused, "but then again, I was sort of right wasn't I? You just haven't run off yet."

Leon snorted into his drink and Morgana pinched her lips together to rein in her laughter.

"Touché" Arthur grinned.

"Now, give me my drink back" Merlin ordered, reaching up to take it out of Arthur hand.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Arthur teased, holding the drink at arm's length, "I believe you're not allowed to drink whilst you're on your medication."

"Oh my God," Merlin muttered, "you're like my mother!"

Leon apparently couldn't contain his laughter at this remark and let out a booming laugh that notified Arthur to Merlin's comment.

"Be that as it is, you're still not allowed to drink alcohol and I'd be a bad friend if I let you so..." and with that Arthur chugged down Merlin's pint, then he smiled, "right I'm off to get me another pint and you a glass of water."

Merlin sat back in his chair after shouting prat at Arthur's retreating form and tried very hard not to think about what other things Arthur's swallowing talents would be very good at.

**

The evening in Merlin's eyes had been a complete success. Arthur, Leon and Lance had fit into Morgana, Merlin and Gwen's little group easily, as though they belonged there all along. Merlin liked all three of the men immensely, they were like lost friends he never knew he had and was grateful for the extra testosterone in the group, though he would never admit that. It was quite obvious that Leon and Morgana were smitten with each other; their soppy looks making Merlin feel nauseated and pleased in equal measure. Lance and Gwen seemed to have hit it off too, they exchanged details at the end of the night and to top it all off, Arthur had become spectacularly drunk during the evening, so when they lads were getting in their taxi to go home, he stumbled and pushed both Morgana and Leon through the open taxi door whilst they were kissing each other goodnight and had proceeded to fall on top of them on the back seat, creating a human sandwich with Morgana in the middle. She was not pleased when both Merlin and Gwen had finally managed to fish her out.

**

On the way to work the next morning Merlin noticed a sign stuck the front doors of the block of flats he lived in, 'New landlord arriving today, please be ready to meet!' A new landlord wouldn't be too bad, Merlin thought as he joined the queues to the underground ticket machines, it's not like he and Cendred, the current landlord, had a good relationship. Still though, if Cendred gave him a bad report the new landlord would be able to kick him out if they felt like he was a liability, something Merlin wouldn't put past him. Merlin was so engrossed in his thoughts about this new landlord that he didn't even notice when Morgana snagged the seat next to him on the tube.

"Good morning Merlin," she sang cheerfully, gaining a few disapproving looks from other commuters on their way to work.

"Morning Morgana, you seem very chirpy this morning," Merlin commented.

"I'm just so pleased about how everything went last night!" Morgana smiled, "you all got on so well together and Gwen and Lance hit it off like I thought they would, apparently he's already asked her out on a date!"

"You mean you told Leon to invite Lance to set him and Gwen up?" Merlin chuckled, "you're diabolical, you do know that right?"

"Yes, well, considering they couldn't take their eyes off each other, I think my actions were pretty justified. Though you and Arthur weren't up to scratch last night," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Arthur and I weren't what?" Merlin asked, confused but starting to feel a little wary.

"Up to scratch! I thought that with a bit of alcohol in both your systems you two would just get together already, the sexual tension is killing me!"

"Morgana! Arthur and I are just friends!" Merlin cried, earning him his own disapproving glares.

"Yes," Morgana agreed with an eye roll, "you are for the moment. Don't think I haven't noticed your wistful looks and his possessive attitude around you. You just haven't let me work my magic yet!"

Merlin put his head in his hands and groaned.

**

Although Merlin chuckled when he saw Arthur's face hidden behind sunglasses and his winces to loud noises that morning, he did feel sorry for Arthur. He probably wouldn't have so much of a hangover if Merlin hadn't manipulated him into chugging as many pints as he could. Arthur, it appeared, was having similar thoughts.

"You!" he mumbled when he spotted Merlin, "I've got a right splitting headache and it's your entire bloody fault!"

"I know," Merlin said apologetically, fighting to keep the smile off his face, "I'm sorry, I didn't think how you'd feel this morning after that eight pint you chugged down, which was pretty impressive by the way!" He saw Arthur's lips lift slightly in the corners. "I'll do something for you to make up for it," Merlin offered.

Arthur's head snapped up quickly at that, something Merlin couldn't place stirring in his eyes, but the movement made him clutch at his head in pain.

"Look, the director's given me the day off today, something about me looking like shit, so I've only got a meeting with my father for lunch at 12. This means I need someone to pick up my dry cleaning..."

"Alright, I can take a hint, I'll fetch your dry cleaning for you," Merlin promised.

"Atta boy. I'll send a car over to your place at about half one, I should be home by then, but I'll give you a key anyway just in case," he handed Merlin a little silver key.

"Righto!" Merlin exclaimed looking at the key, "hold on a second, how do you know where I live?"

"_Mer_lin," Arthur muttered exasperatedly, "I know _everything_ about you."

"Oh, fair enough" Merlin smiled, trying not to show the little flutters of nervous happiness he'd felt when Arthur had said that, "I'll just get going then."

As he reached the door, Merlin stopped at turned to look at Arthur excitedly.

"Oi, if you have the day off, doesn't that mean I have the day off? Because I have a lot of things to do you know, I've got to go food shopping, reply to emails, sort out your calendar, watch that film Will lent me..."

"Alright!" Arthur cut across him, "I get the picture, you have the day off okay?"

"Brilliant!" Merlin said cheerily, "thanks Arthur!"

Arthur just sighed as Merlin closed the door behind him.

**

Merlin did actually have a lot of things to get done, his week off in Ealdor had left him out of loop and he needed to catch up with everyone else. After getting his groceries, replying to Will's emails about the film, posting the film back to Ealdor, having a quick nap, having a long shower and organising Arthur's life for him, Merlin was totally ready to pick up Arthur's dry cleaning at half one. Well, he would have been, except Merlin's nap lasted a little longer than he'd expected it too and he was now rushing around trying to find his shoes, clutching a mug of coffee in one hand to help him wake up. There were another three short buzzes on his intercom, the driver reminding him that he was waiting and Merlin yelled distractedly to no one,

"Coming, I'm coming!"

Laces undone, Merlin rushed out of his flat, locked his door and ran down the stairs two at a time, straight into an unknown woman coming up the stairs. Unfortunately, Merlin was still holding his cup of coffee unconsciously and the said coffee was now making a very ugly pattern on the woman's blouse. She glared at him furiously, but Merlin heard the angry beeping of a horn from outside and pushed past her shouting his apologies over his shoulder and promising to get her blouse dry cleaned.

**

Considering Arthur's dry cleaning was picked up exactly on time and Arthur hadn't given him a specific time to arrive at his flat, Merlin thought, the driver didn't really have any reason to be shooting him dirty looks through the rear view mirror. Still he was rather glad when the car pulled up to a stop outside some expensive looking flats in the richer side of London, as Merlin assumed this was where Arthur lived. After looking and pushing the button for Arthur's flat (on the top floor, typical) and receiving no reply, Merlin struggled to balance Arthur's dry cleaning and fetch the spare key from out of his pocket, but he managed it and let himself in. When Merlin managed to get inside Arthur's apartment, he could hear the TV playing distantly from one of the huge rooms Merlin seemed to be standing in.

"Arthur?" Merlin called out, setting Arthur's dry cleaning down on a table by the front door, "Arthur?"

Following the sound of the TV, Merlin found Arthur sitting on a pristine couch in a pristine living room, staring morosely at a large bottle of Jack Daniels that was now half full. All the blinds were down, throwing the room into darkness and only the light from the TV made it possible to see anything at all.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked again, more hesitantly now he wasn't sure of Arthur's state.

Arthur blinked a few times and then slowly turned to face Merlin.

"Oh, hello Merlin," Arthur said in a strangely high pitched and strangled voice, "you're here to drop off the dry cleaning right? Oh that's good. Did they ask you anything? You did check it was mine didn't you? That's good, good. Everything's good."

He turned to stare back at the bottle without letting Merlin speak. Merlin moved forward cautiously, as one might approach a wild animal.

"Arthur," he said gently, "are you okay?"

Arthur didn't say anything, just took a shaky breath and blinked. Merlin moved forward again and plucked the alcohol off of the coffee table. When Arthur turned to look at him, Merlin spoke.

"I'm saving you from a horrible hangover," Merlin said soberly, "I think you need to sober up a bit too, where's your kitchen?"

Arthur stared at him for a moment and then pointed vaguely to the left. After getting slightly lost in Arthur's expanding flat, Merlin finally found himself in the kitchen and put the Jack Daniels down on the work surface. Like the rest of the flat, the whole room was spotless and Merlin didn't know where to begin. Making Arthur a cup of coffee sounded like a good idea and he randomly started opening cupboards and draws in search of coffee, mugs, spoons, sugar and milk. The first drawer Merlin opened did happen to contain the cutlery along with other kitchen utensils, so after picking up a teaspoon he moved onto the cupboards. The mugs were in the cupboard above the kitchen sink, but after searching the rest of the top cupboards Merlin still hadn't found the coffee or sugar. He was starting to get a bit worried about Arthur actually, he hadn't heard any noises from the living room and Arthur hadn't said a word to him since his babbling. Merlin opened the cupboard under the kitchen sink and was relieved to find all of Arthur's drinks sitting there. Merlin delved inside, looking for the coffee, but came out empty handed clutching the sugar. There are all the fruit squashes under the sun in there, all the alcohol, but no tea bags or coffee? Merlin thought. Then a little can hidden at the back caught his eye and he impatiently shoved all the other drinks out of the way. _Hot chocolate_. Oh well, thought Merlin, that'll have to do.

Two minutes later Merlin wandered back into the living room holding two mugs of steaming hot chocolate with all the trimmings; a large helping of whipped cream sat on top of the liquid, with mini marshmallows and grated chocolate sprinkled on top of that. Merlin placed the drink in front of Arthur were the Jack Daniels had been and then perched himself on the end of the couch, watching him. Arthur looked at it for a moment and then picked it up, cradling the warm mug between his hands and shot a quizzical look at Merlin.

"What?" Merlin defended, feeling his cheeks heat, "if you're going to have hot chocolate you may as well do it properly! Besides, I couldn't find the coffee in that vast kitchen of yours."

"It's in the pantry," Arthur said quietly and Merlin sighed inwardly with relief at Arthur's normal voice, "I do like mini marshmallows," Arthur added as an afterthought.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, occasionally sipping at their hot chocolates. Finally, Merlin's curiosity got the better of him; he switched the TV off and turned to Arthur.

"So, are you going to tell me what's up?" he asked casually.

Arthur gave Merlin a searching look that made Merlin's heart thump unevenly.

"I had lunch." Arthur said abruptly. "With my father."

"Yeeeeeessss," Merlin dragged the word out and then paused, "did it go badly?"

Arthur laughed humorously.

"All my lunches with my father go badly Merlin. I always end up feeling like my 11 year old self, not living up to my father's expectations of me, never being good enough, never doing anything right. We ended up having an argument in the middle of the restaurant about my role in _Teen Scream! 2_ again. I try so hard to make him proud of me; I just want to be the best I can be. He told me I was a disappointment to him," Arthur's voice trailed off.

Merlin sat there for a moment, speechless, as his feelings; the anger at Uther and pity for Arthur, overwhelmed him. He saw Arthur's eyes tear up and without thinking Merlin placed his drink on the coffee table and flung his arms around Arthur in a comforting hug. Arthur tensed for a moment at the unexpected contact, but then relaxed into the embrace, turning his face into Merlin's neck as though trying to hide from the world.

"Don't you ever feel like you're not good enough," Merlin whispered into Arthur's hair, "you're father should be proud of you, you're one of the most famous and talented actors in the world and millions of people aspire to be like you. You're not a disappointment in any way, I'm sure your father is proud of you Arthur; he just doesn't know how to show it. And anyway, you're not allowed to be any better than you already are," he joked, "I don't think the world or your ego could withstand it."

Arthur let out a shaky little laugh and clutched at Merlin's jacket and if Merlin felt dampness on his neck where Arthur's face was pressed, he didn't mention it. They sat there together for quite a while, Merlin rubbing small comforting circles on Arthur's back whilst Arthur's breathing became steadier and his eyes closed. Just as Merlin thought Arthur may have actually fallen asleep on him, Arthur spoke, his words slightly slurred with drowsiness and alcohol.

"Thank you Merlin," he muttered, "I don't know how I'd survive without you you know. You can never ever leave me."

When Arthur did fall asleep, Merlin moved him gently into a horizontal position on the couch and fetched a blanket he'd seen earlier in the flat to cover him with. He then washed and dried the two mugs, put them away and left the apartment, locking the door behind him. Merlin spent the entire night thinking about Arthur's sleep muddled words and wondering whether he meant them in the way Merlin hoped he did.

**

Six days later, Merlin was walking up the stairs to his flat, thinking about the upcoming meeting with the therapist Arthur had booked that night. Therefore, he didn't notice the piece of paper stuck to his front door until he'd inserted his key into the lock and actually pushed the door open, the movement making the paper flutter. Merlin pulled it off and read it curiously, but he never got past the first couple of words which made his heart stop and his breath catch. **FINAL EVICTION NOTICE!** It screamed. Final eviction notice? Merlin hadn't even received the first eviction notice! He hadn't even met the new landlord yet! Hands shaking, Merlin made his way back downstairs hurriedly to the landlords' accommodation on the ground floor.

When he reached the door Merlin knocked, harder than he'd intended too and the door was opened by the woman who he'd split coffee down last week by accident. Her eyes flickered from Merlin's face to the letter still gripped tightly in his hand and she smiled cruelly, but stepped back from the door and motioned for him to come in. As soon as she'd shut the door, Merlin spoke.

"What is this?" he cried, "I'm being evicted?"

She looked at him for a moment, amusement in her eyes before she replied, "I don't think we've been introduced I'm Nimueh, the new landlord and unfortunately, yes you are. Your report left by the last landlord, Cendred, was not the most glowing report of your activities. Plus, I did really like that blouse."

"You mean you're evicting me because I split coffee on your blouse?" Merlin asked incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish I was, but I'm not. I realise that I haven't given you much of a warning, but you know, I've been busy. Although, I'm not a cruel person I am giving you a week to pack up and move."

"Not... not a cruel person?" Merlin stuttered. "You're evicting me because of an accident! There are rules in place against this sort of thing! You can't just kick me out like this!"

"Oh believe me Merlin, I can and I have. If you want to take this to a higher authority then be my guest. I have a five page letter from Cendred listing all the reasons why I shouldn't let you live here anymore," Nimueh smirked, "so instead of making empty threats at me, I think you should spend your time looking for a new place of residence."

Nimueh walked over to her door and opened it, leaving Merlin no choice but to leave, dejected and hopeless. In a trance Merlin walked up the first flight of stairs and then stopped, despair welling in his chest. He fell back against the wall and slid down to the floor, ignoring his healing ribs twinge of protest. There he stayed, staring at the opposite wall blankly, for what seemed like years, but when he checked his watch, only 15 minutes had passed and that meant that a car from Arthur would be arriving any minute to take him to his therapy appointment. Merlin pushed himself off the floor slowly and sighed. Perhaps these appointments would be beneficial after all if his life carried on like this.

**

Gaius's office was a friendly room, the walls covered in books and plush leather seats hugged Merlin's frame, allowing him to relax somewhat. Gaius himself was a friendly old man, he'd smiled warmly at Merlin and shook his hand when he'd arrived for the appointment and they'd spent the best part of 10 minutes discussing Arthur's stubborn nature.

"Well then, I believe Arthur booked some appointments with me for you because of your attack a few months ago?" Gaius asked.

"Yes," Merlin said shortly, his guard coming up.

"Don't worry," Gaius smiled, interpreting Merlin's stiffness correctly, "you don't have to answer any questions you don't want to and anything you say will stay inside these four walls."

Merlin smiled tentatively, relaxing slightly now he knew he could still keep some things to himself.

"Now, is there anything you want to tell me about the attack or the aftermath before I ask you anything?" Gaius asked.

Merlin deliberated and then thought, well, what the hell and spoke.

"I don't like being alone at night in the dark. If I hear noises that I'm not used to... well, it frightens me." Merlin admitted.

"That's understandable, completely understandable," Gaius said gently, "we'll tackle those problems in our later sessions, but for today I'd just like to talk about your thoughts on the attack if that's okay?"

Merlin nodded.

So Gaius asked and asked and asked and Merlin answered as best could, sometimes a little hesitantly, when Gaius would remind him he didn't have to answer and sometimes straight away, where Gaius would smile and make a note on his paper. Merlin felt like they'd been at it for hours, even though his appointment was only 45 minutes, a taster session time if you will.

"Last question then," Gaius said cheerfully.

Merlin just nodded again, feeling tired and fuzzy after his long day of ordeals.

"In your thoughts, why do you think that attack happened?"

"Because of Arthur," Merlin said without thinking and then clapped his hand over his mouth in shock. Even Gaius seemed surprised, his eyebrows rose so high and so rapidly it looked like they had a mind of their own and at any other time, in any other situation Merlin would have found it tremendously funny.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Merlin blurted out, still shocked at his answer. "I know Arthur isn't to blame in any of this, what I meant was I was attacked to send a message to Arthur, so in my head I was attacked to warn Arthur."

"I see," Gaius said, eyebrows still flying high, "well Merlin, it's been a pleasure meeting you, honestly, it has. I'll see you again in two weeks I expect?"

Merlin agreed, they shook hands again and Merlin escaped from the room as fast as he could, as though he could leave the words he uttered behind him.

**

The next morning Merlin arrived at work in a depressed mood, he'd rang both Gwen and Morgana last night after his meeting with Gaius to see if they could let him sleep on the couch, but both of them had turned him down with thousands of apologies. Morgana and Leon had moved in together and were still setting everything up and Gwen had her brother Elyan over, so her couch was already occupied. He wasn't angry or bitter at either of them, he understood that his request was unexpected and at short notice, but it meant that Merlin would have to find another place he could rent within 6 days and that was very unlikely.

"Morning," Merlin said dully as he gave Arthur his morning coffee.

"Good morning," Arthur replied, staring at Merlin intently.

Merlin stood there for a few minutes staring back at Arthur, wondering why he was staring at Merlin in the first place, when Arthur apparently couldn't contain himself anymore and burst into speech.

"Well? How did your appointment with Gaius go?"

"Oh, right, yeah of course," Merlin said blankly, "it was great thanks, really good."

Merlin forced a smile on his face that looked more like a grimace, however Arthur who had been wrestling with his coffee cup lid, didn't notice.

"Brilliant! You'll be going to rest of the appointments then?" said Arthur eagerly.

"Yes, I will. Anyway, I need to go and... talk to the director," Merlin lied and he left the room, wanting to get away from Arthur excited, beaming expression.

Merlin avoided Arthur as much as he could for the rest of the morning, a difficult task being his PA, not wanting to act cheerful about the therapy when the weight of his eviction hung on his shoulders. Nevertheless, Merlin couldn't avoid spending lunch with Arthur and he entered the dressing room with their usual sandwiches to find Arthur sitting the couch, arms crossed, apparently waiting for Merlin.

"Um, hi?" Merlin tried, taking in Arthur's angry expression.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd been handed an eviction notice?" Arthur demanded.

"Because it doesn't concern you, you don't need to worry about it. How did you find out anyways?" Merlin replied, studiously not looking Arthur in the face.

"Morgana," Arthur explained with a wave of his hand, "that's not the point though! Of course it concerns me; I'm your friend for God's sake! Have you found anywhere to stay?"

"No," Merlin mumbled.

"Well then, it's settled. You're moving in with me, I have a guest room that you can stay in," Arthur declared.

"What? But I won't be able to afford half of your rent!"

"_Mer_lin, you forget, not only has your salary increased now, but I have more money than I need. I don't want you to pay me rent," Arthur sighed.

"Why does this idea have Morgana written all over it?" Merlin asked.

"Because it was Morgana's idea," Arthur replied, taking his lunch from Merlin.

"Of course it was."

That evening Merlin and Arthur spent their time packing all of Merlin's possessions into cardboard boxes and transporting them over to the guest room in Arthur's apartment. They'd already spent the afternoon thinking up any rules they thought they needed and dishing out the chores equally. Merlin looked around his new room, feeling anxious and excited about living with Arthur. If someone had told him he'd be living with Arthur Pendragon 5 years ago, he probably would have fainted. Actually, Merlin was quite surprised he hadn't fainted really. Arthur popped his head round the door and said that dinner was ready. Merlin stood up slowly and shook his head, this was insane.

**

It was the weekend and Merlin was searching the kitchen cupboards for peanut butter to spread on his toast.

"Arthur!" he shouted after finding none, "Arthur, where's the peanut butter?"

Arthur padded into the kitchen barefoot wearing a pair of tracksuits bottoms and an old t-shirt and poured himself a glass of orange juice whilst putting some bread in the toaster for his own breakfast.

"In the pantry" he said.

Merlin hadn't been in the pantry yet, Arthur had done most of the cooking as he knew where everything was and when Arthur hadn't cooked they'd ordered a take away. He opened the door to the pantry and gasped. The place was a mess. There were spilled sauces and condiments all over the shelves, half of the products were missing lids and the floor was covered in food.

"Arthur," Merlin said firmly after he'd grabbed the peanut butter, "wear some old clothes today, we're cleaning out the pantry."

Arthur groaned.

**

An hour later Merlin was armed with a pair of marigolds, a bucket of soapy water, a cloth and a black bin bag, while Arthur hung back fiddling with his own pair of rubber gloves.

"Do we have to?" Arthur whined.

Merlin just glared at him and beckoned him forward.

"You know, you look all cute when you try to be fierce," Arthur teased.

Merlin ignored the comment and pointed at the top shelf, "we'll start at the top and work our way down. We'll take everything off the shelf, throw anyway anything without a lid or past its sell-by-date, wipe down the shelf and any products covered in food and put it all back again."

"Yes sir!" Arthur cried, saluting.

"Oh shut up you clotpole, start taking stuff of the shelf already."

They worked diligently and efficiently, chatting mindlessly to amuse themselves whilst they worked, laughing at each other when they dropped something or found a product Merlin had never heard of or Arthur didn't know he had.

"Gundelsheim Sauerkraut," Merlin read slowly off one tin they found, "what even is this? It looks like shredded, pickled celery."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Arthur shrugged whilst Merlin laughed, "I think it's German though. Why don't you open it and try some?"

"Er... it's past its sell-by-date, no thanks," Merlin said quickly and tossed it into the black bin bag.

They'd reached the bottom shelf and Merlin was quite pleased and proud with how clean and tidy everything was looking when Arthur's elbow caught an open bag of flour. The flour rained down on Merlin, who'd been sitting on the floor, streaking his clothes, hair and face white. Arthur took one look at a furious Merlin covered in flour and cracked up laughing.

"This is funny is it?" Merlin asked, grinning evilly, "okay then!"

He picked up a handful of flour from off the floor around him and threw it in Arthur's face. Arthur spluttered and then grinned back.

"Oh, it is so on!" he stated, grabbing his own handful of flour.

Merlin squeaked and tried to escape but Arthur jumped on top of him pinning him to the floor face down, carefully avoiding Merlin's rib and he stuffed flour down the back of Merlin's t-shirt. Merlin squirmed and laughed breathlessly for 5 minutes, before giving in.

"Okay okay!" he laughed, "you win!"

Arthur flipped him over, still pinning him down and grinned at him, his cheeks flushed under all the flour coating his face. Merlin grinned back at him and an emotion sparked in Arthur's eyes, that made Merlin feel dizzy. Arthur searched Merlin's face as though looking for something, which he obviously found, because suddenly he'd swooped down and his lips where on Merlin's.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. I'm sorry the chapter is late again, I was really stuck for ideas in this chapter, though I think I managed to think up an alright chapter! I'd also be really grateful if someone could tell me how to put breaks in my work, because the story seems a bit disjointed as I can't figure out how to do it. Thanks!**_

Chapter 3

Merlin let out a muffled squeak of surprise. He was lying in Arthur Pendragon's pantry, covered in Arthur Pendragon's flour, being pinned to the floor by Arthur Pendragon's body and was being kissed by Arthur bloody Pendragon. Arthur's lips, hesitant and soft on Merlin's, seemed to be leaving under Merlin's unresponsiveness. Merlin wasn't quite ready for that moment yet. He followed Arthur blindly upwards, keeping their lips together, pressing them harder. Arthur exhaled softly and moved back down, a hand reaching up to cup Merlin's face to move it to a better angle. The kiss wasn't as heated as others Merlin had had, nor as exciting, but by God, it was the best. Just as Merlin thought his heart would surely burst out of his chest from the way it was beating, Arthur's tongue licked the seam of his lips. Merlin gasped and the sound seemed to bring Arthur back to reality. The next second Merlin was surrounded by nothing but air, Arthur having rolled off him and moved away into the kitchen.

Sitting up slowly Merlin turned to look at him, "Arthur?"

Arthur was leaning against the kitchen counter with a hand pressed over his eyes. He let out a shaky sigh and muttered, "I'm sorry Merlin."

"Wha – you're sorry? What for?" Merlin asked confusedly.

"I shouldn't have kissed you, it was wrong of me and I'm sorry."

Merlin sat there for a moment, stumped. He had no idea where all of this was coming from.

"Arthur, seriously, what are you talking about? In case you hadn't noticed, I was kissing you back."

"That's the whole point!" Arthur cried, propelling himself forward. "That's exactly it! You kissed me back!"

Merlin was, if anything, even more confused by this statement, but tendrils of hurt were now swirling in his chest. To hide any emotion that may be reflected on his face, Merlin pushed himself up off the floor, taking the time to compose himself.

"Well, I'm sorry if that isn't what you wanted or if it wasn't good enough for you, but usually when someone kisses me they generally do it because they want to and they tend to be rather pleased when I kiss them back," Merlin supplied coolly.

"No! That's not what I meant!" Arthur countered furiously. "I shouldn't have kissed you because nothing can happen between us! My father-"

"Your father?" Merlin interrupted with a strong sense of foreboding, "what's he got to do with _any_ of this?"

Arthur froze like a startled rabbit in the headlights and appeared to be avoiding eye contact with Merlin. Merlin frowned, feeling more and more uneasy the longer Arthur remained silent, "Arthur, _what about your father_?"

"He – I mean – house – er - he wants." Arthur took a deep breath, "he wants me to get married to a lady of high class, have at least 3 children, live in a big country house and drive an expensive car. In fact he'd probably like me to have a golden retriever too. He understands about my sexuality and he accepts it, but he's made it clear that he wants me to marry a woman. He doesn't mind me messing around with men, but a relationship isn't on the cards."

Merlin felt like he'd been punched. There seemed to be a huge hole where his stomach should be, but he still felt the urge to throw up.

"Arthur, that's not accepting your sexuality. That's trying to control every single fucking aspect of your life. That's smothering you into submission" Merlin mumbled through frozen lips.

Abruptly, Arthur was furious. He took a carefully measured step forward and growled, "My. Father. Is. Not. Smothering. Me. Into. Submission. Merlin. You don't know anything about our relationship. He only wants what is best for me and if that means I can't have a relationship with a _fag _then so be it."

An awful silence descended on the scene as both Merlin and Arthur took in the unintended insult at Merlin. Arthur's eyes widened with shock and guilt, but as he opened his mouth to speak Merlin cut across him, a carefully blank look upon his features.

"No," Merlin agreed, "I don't know anything about your relationship with your father because you won't let me. You don't let anyone in Arthur; you lock yourself away and push everyone else out. I thought that after everything we've been through together I might have actually gotten slightly closer to you than you would let others, but clearly I was wrong. All those small gestures and late nights together, I thought that they actually meant something." Arthur reached forward again, this time with a pained look on his face, but Merlin moved away from him. "I thought you might have actually cared for me. But what does it all matter anyway? Daddy says the words and you obey like a puppet on a string! He says jump and you ask how high! As long as you please him what does it matter if you hurt yourself and people around you in the process? So that just leaves stupid old me, thinking that maybe we could have been something, the one with the long-time crush that will amount to nothing, but it's not like that matters! Imagine what dear old father would think if you dated me, the fucking fag!"

Merlin's voice had risen in pitch the longer he spoke and he was now shouting, his voice breaking and scratchy. Suddenly Merlin realised that there were tears running down his face and that Arthur was looking at him with an expression that Merlin didn't want to decipher. He slowly backed out of the room staring at Arthur, who stood immobile in the kitchen staring back. His emotions were running through him too fast to register and Merlin feared that he would burst out with more words that would only cause him pain afterwards.

"I'm going out," he said shakily and ran from the room, grabbing his shoes along the way, ignoring Arthur's shout.

Arthur heard the door slam shut and slid to the floor, his own tears threatening to spill over.

"Merlin," he whispered.

~#~

Merlin couldn't quite remember how he'd made it to Gwen's flat, but here he was, standing outside her door. He felt weary, like he'd run a marathon and the effects were only just starting to catch up with him. He knocked gently on the door, swaying on his feet a little as he heard Gwen's happy "Coming!" from the other side of the door.

The door swung open to reveal Gwen's beaming face, which quickly turned to a mixture of horror and shock as she took in Merlin's appearance.

"Merlin?" she gasped, "What on earth are you covered in?"

Merlin glanced down at himself to see streaks of white still residing on him from his and Arthur's flour fight. He realised that me must also have little tracks on his cheek where his tears had washed away the flour.

"Flour," he mumbled, "I'm sorry to turn up like this, but can I come in? I just need to be somewhere where I can blow off steam for a little while."

Gwen looked around guiltily and Merlin looked at her properly, she was all dressed up in her nicest clothes, plus her hair and makeup were immaculate.

"I'm sorry, you're going out aren't you?" Merlin asked.

"Er yes, Lance and I have a lunch date," Gwen blushed.

"That's brilliant," Merlin replied, trying to paste a realistic looking smile on his face, "isn't this like your fourth date now?"

"In a row!" Gwen squealed and then assumed a sombre expression. "Merlin, you're welcome to stay you know, Elyan will be back in about half an hour, he's just gone out to get some food. Take a shower too; get all that flour off you."

Merlin smiled at her, his eyes tearing up at her kindness. He blinked them away, was he really going to cry over a shower? A few minutes later Merlin was in Gwen's shower, letting the warm water fall down over him, mingling with his tears and easing out some of the tension he was feeling. He was tempted to use Gwen's shampoo; he did like the smell of mango and apple, but thought better of it, picking up the generic brand which Elyan must have brought.

When Elyan came back from his shopping he found Merlin curled up on the couch with Gwen's special cheering up ice cream, watching an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. At the sound of the front door closing though Merlin had turned to see who it was and had jumped up to help Elyan with the bags he was juggling.

"Elyan! How are you? What have you been doing? Blimey, it's been nearly a whole year now since I last saw you! How did your travelling go? Did you manage to get to Sydney?" Merlin forced himself to stop talking and pulled Elyan into a bone crushing hug, his excitement still bouncing around in his chest. Elyan laughed and hugged Merlin back just as tightly.

"I'm fine Merlin thanks. I've had some amazing adventures to tell you about, the whole travelling thing was brilliant! Ah no, I never went in the end, I stayed in America instead." Elyan answered all of Merlin's questions flawlessly; "you haven't changed a bit mate! Still the same skinny kid you always were," he winked.

Merlin mock scowled and half heartedly punched him; he then helped put away all the food Elyan had brought whilst they swapped stories and caught up on each other's lives. They then moved to the couch and drank endless cups of tea, enjoying the interaction of an absent friend. They had been sitting in companionable silence for a while when Elyan broke it.

"Are you going to tell me why I can back to the flat to see you eating Gwen's cheering up ice cream and watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S then? You only tend to do that when something's bothering you," he said.

Merlin pulled a face, but this was the reason he'd come to Gwen's, to discuss everything that had happened with Arthur and what to do about it all. So he told Elyan everything, starting from the first moment they'd met and ending with the argument they'd just had. He left nothing out and didn't try to hide anything; Elyan knew him far too well and would just read him like an open book anyway. Elyan didn't interrupt once while Merlin let everything out, only making small faces that where gone as quick as they appeared.

"-and then I came here," Merlin finished, somewhat lamely.

There was a small silence while Elyan surveyed Merlin and Merlin tried not to squirm under the gaze.

"Only you Merlin could be so emotionally invested in someone you met a few months ago," Elyan sighed, but the comment was fond and Merlin didn't feel too insulted to warrant interrupting him. "I can see how much he means to you so you have to ask yourself the question: do you want to agree to forget about what happened today and stay as friends or push the situation and possibly loose his friendship?"

Merlin didn't even have to think about the answer, "I'd rather keep him as a friend," he said automatically.

"Well then, you know what you have to do," Elyan smiled, "do you want to stay for dinner?"

"No, it's alright thanks; I should probably go back and talk with Arthur." Merlin pushed himself up off the couch and went to get his shoes. "We'll meet up soon though yeah?"

"Definitely!" Elyan smiled, "I still have to introduce you to Gwaine and Percy!"

"I look forward to it," Merlin replied truthfully with a smile of his own, "give us a call whenever then."

He gave a small wave and left. Now he just had to talk to Arthur.

When Merlin arrived back at the flat he came with Arthur's favourite, Chinese takeaway. He cautiously walked into the living room to find Arthur sitting on the couch staring at the doorway. As soon as he saw Merlin Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but like earlier Merlin cut him off.

"Look, before you say anything I just want to say something myself. I'm sorry about what I said, I shouldn't have said any of that, I was just shocked and angry and I didn't really mean any of it. I understand if you're angry with me, but I brought you a Chinese to help say sorry," Merlin smiled sheepishly. "I think it'd be best if we forgot any of this every happened and that we never speak of it again, because I really value your friendship and I don't want to lose it over this. Agreed?"

Arthur looked at him for a minute, sighed and then nodded. He got up, walked over to Merlin and took one of the bags carrying the takeaway off him and smiled.

"You have nothing to be sorry for you know; I'm the one who should be sorry. If you don't want to talk about it though that's fine. Let's go and eat then shall we?" Arthur walked off into the kitchen to get the plates and cutlery while Merlin fetched the beers and put the food on the dining table. Things were going to be a bit strained for a while, Merlin knew, but hopefully everything would be alright.

~#~

For a few weeks Merlin and Arthur's relationship was relatively strained, they never argued again but remained excessively polite towards one another, until Merlin opened one of Arthur's fan mail by accident and found himself holding a pair of lady's lacy thongs. Arthur chose that moment to walk into his dressing room and gave himself a stitch laughing at Merlin's horrified expression. It was like the ice that had fallen over them had broken and they found themselves falling back into their usual friendship easily.

The next 3 months passed fairly quickly for Merlin, full of nights out drinking and Arthur's presence. He found himself avoiding going out with Morgana, Gwen, Leon and Lance if Arthur was going too, it just felt too much like a couples date for him sometimes and it caused a little ache in his chest to spring up. Especially now Gwen and Lance had become a serious couple, looking at them together was like looking at true love personified and Merlin wasn't surprised when Lance pulled him, Leon and Arthur to one side one time Merlin had joined them on an evening out to discuss how he should propose to Gwen. Morgana and Leon were taking things much more slowly than Gwen and Lance, though they too were in 'couple heaven' as Merlin liked to think of it. Morgana hadn't given up on Merlin and Arthur getting together and although it made Merlin feel slightly hopeful sometimes, he wished she would give up, as the thought also made him sad. Arthur didn't help Merlin's attempts at dissuading her much either, especially when she saw them together off the set of _Teen Scream! 2_. The last time Merlin had gone to the pub with them he'd offered to get the next round and ended up flirting with the stupidly handsome barman. Arthur had come up and slipped his arm around Merlin's waist and asked 'what's taking so long chuck?' and had sent a withering glare at the barman when Merlin had explained he'd been chatting. Morgana had been overly gleeful about the whole thing,

"He was staking his claim on you! It couldn't have been more obvious as if he'd pissed all over you like a dog in heat!"

Merlin had pointed out to her that that hadn't even made any sense, but understood where she was coming from. Arthur had openly acted as though they were together to blow his chances with the barman, but why? After hours of thinking he just put it down to one of those things Arthur does that can't be explained. He had quite a long list.

~#~

One Saturday night, Merlin received a call from Elyan asking him if he wanted to go out for a drink to catch up and meet Gwaine and Percy. With nothing planned, Merlin quickly accepted and dressed up slightly, said bye to Arthur and met Elyan and his two friends at The Rising Sun. Gwaine and Percy were not only super hot, but unfailingly kind, warm and loyal, just like Elyan was and Merlin enjoyed the night out for the first time in a while. Percy didn't speak too much, chipping in to the conversation when he wanted to, but Gwaine made up the silence with his chatter. Soon he and Merlin where talking like old friends and Merlin could tell that Gwaine would end up as an old friend of his in the end. The only downside was that Gwaine liked his alcohol a lot and he liked his drinking games, a fucking lot. Both Elyan and Percy had turned down all of Gwaine's challenges, more knowledgeable than Merlin, who had accepted them all.

"Go easy on him Gwaine," Elyan had said with a smirk, "he doesn't hold his alcohol well."

"Do too!" Merlin had slurred indignantly, sloshing his whiskey over the table.

At about midnight it became fairly obvious fairly quickly that Gwaine was going to win every drinking game, because Gwaine seemed to have a superpower when it came to alcohol and wasn't even slurring after their 12th shot.

"S'not fair," Merlin sulked, "could have warned me."

"That would have taken all the fun out of it though," Gwaine laughed, slapping Merlin on the back and knocking him off his seat, "oh shit, sorry mate! Come on let's get you home before you turn into a puddle on the floor."

"Yesh," Merlin agreed as Gwaine hoisted him off the floor and into the taxi, "Lesh go back to Arfur's flat. Arfur's gonna be soooooooo worried, 'cause m'not back yet."

He snuggled into Gwaine's shoulder on the ride back and fought the urge to sleep; it wouldn't be polite to drool on Gwaine. Soon they were outside the flat, Gwaine had propped him against the wall while he paid the taxi driver and then they made their way upstairs ungracefully, trying to tiptoe around in the dark flat so as not to wake Arthur.

"SSSSHHHH" Merlin whispered loudly to no one and then giggled.

Gwaine might have rolled his eyes but Merlin couldn't really tell and suddenly he was lying on his bed and Gwaine was trying to prise Merlin's fist off his t-shirt.

"Merlin," he whispered, "Merlin, let go."

"Mmmm, no" Merlin mumbled, "jus' stay. Taxi's gone."

Gwaine sighed and shifted Merlin over slightly so he could lie on the bed next to him. Merlin made a contended noise and buried his face into Gwaine's neck.

"Mmm, warm" he commented and Gwaine laughed quietly.

"Go to sleep Merlin" he muttered fondly.

So Merlin did.

~#~

Next morning Merlin was making bacon sandwiches for him and Gwaine, putting some to one side for Arthur when he woke up, while Gwaine made them both some coffee. Instead of going to the dining table Merlin set the breakfast out on the island in the kitchen, so Gwaine sat down on the stools and watched Merlin cook while they chatted freely. Therefore when Arthur walked into the kitchen he received a slight shock.

"Merlin can I smell ba-"Arthur started as he walked into the kitchen, but then he caught sight on Gwaine. "Gwaine?"

"Arthur?" Gwaine asked surprised.

"Huh." Arthur huffed, "you've grown your hair." And he sat down next to Gwaine on the island.

Merlin stood staring at the two of them with his mouth open and when it became clear that neither of them were going to offer an explanation he spoke.

"You two know each other?"

"Yes, we went to the same school. Childhood friends and all that. You'll burn the bacon," Arthur said, drinking the orange juice Merlin had poured him earlier.

Merlin turned back to the bacon and served breakfast a few minutes later, taking his own seat opposite Gwaine and Arthur at the island. The three of them ate in silence, too hungry to talk, until Arthur finished and spoke.

"So did you two do, you know?" he asked with fake nonchalance.

"No, we met through Elyan. I got rather drunk last night thanks to Gwaine's drinking games, he brought me back and I told him to stay," Merlin answered.

Arthur looked at Gwaine, almost for confirmation and Gwaine nodded, his mouth too full with food to speak. Arthur looked relieved for a moment before he chuckled.

"Did no one tell you to not accept any of Gwaine's drinking games?"

"No," Merlin said with mock self pity.

"Well, you'll know next time."

~#~

Gwaine soon became a permanent fixture in Merlin's life. Merlin had convinced Elyan to come out with Morgana, Gwen and the guys and to bring Gwaine and Percy along too, so the group had grown again to become 9. Sometimes he couldn't believe how well everyone got along with everyone else; it was almost like they all had been destined to be together as a group.

It was just another ordinary Sunday, Arthur had gone out to play golf with Leon and Gwaine had come over to the flat to keep Merlin company. However, that all changed when Gwaine pushed Merlin into the kitchen counter as he pressed up against him when he reached for a glass. Gwaine was quite a 'hands on' type of guy anyway, he was always pinching Merlin's arse when he thought he would get away with it, which was pretty much all the time, but he'd never been this close before whilst Merlin was sober.

"Sorry Merlin," he said with a hint of a grin in his voice, "I just need to get a glass quickly" and then his body was forcing Merlin against the worktop and his heat was flushed against Merlin's back.

Merlin hadn't been in such close and intimate contact with anyone since his relationship with Will that had ended 8 months ago and to his mortification he'd felt the beginnings of an erection. He made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a moan. Gwaine froze and brought his arm down slowly. He then placed both of his hands on the work surface either side of Merlin, trapping him between the kitchen and Gwaine's body. Gwaine tentatively shifted his hips. This time Merlin definitely moaned.

Swiftly, Gwaine was everywhere. His hands moved to Merlin's waist and gripped him tightly, spinning him around. His lips where pushing against Merlin's in a hungry kiss, his tongue licking insistently for access. Merlin, dizzy from the onslaught of sensations, granted Gwaine access and licked his own way into Gwaine's mouth. He wasn't surprised when Gwaine did things with his tongue that made his knees go weak. When Gwaine slipped his leg in between Merlin's and rubbed himself against Merlin, but refused Merlin any relief, Merlin tried to jerk his hips out of Gwaine's grasp and groaned in frustration. Gwaine broke away from the kiss and nibbled on Merlin's ear.

"I think we should move to somewhere with a bed."

Merlin whimpered his agreement, but soon realised he wasn't going to walk anywhere soon as his knees had turned to jelly. Gwaine also seemed to have noticed for he picked Merlin up and slung him over his shoulder and marched them to Merlin's room, his hands roaming over Merlin's arse. They were soon on Merlin's bed, Gwaine hovering over him, pressing little kisses into his neck.

"Off," Merlin demanded breathlessly, tugging at Gwaine's top.

Gwaine complied with his request, slipping his shirt off and then pulling off Merlin's, throwing them both to the floor. Merlin drank in the sight of Gwaine's tanned, muscled chest and ran his hands down Gwaine's back, feeling the muscles move and contract. Gwaine brought his hand down to one of Merlin's nipples and twisted gently, causing Merlin to gasp and arch up off the bed.

"Hm, like that do you?" Gwaine smirked.

Before Merlin could answer Gwaine took a nipple into his mouth and bit softly and the last coherent thought Merlin had left his head. Gwaine continued his exploration, licking, sucking and biting Merlin's nipple until it almost became too sensitive, where he moved to the other, while Merlin bucked and writhed beneath him, his hands tugging at Gwaine's jeans. Merlin's attempts were ignored by Gwaine until he'd finished with Merlin's nipples and then he pulled both his and Merlin's remaining clothes off.

Immediately Merlin flipped them over and moved down Gwaine's body, kissing and licking as he went. When he reached Gwaine's cock he smiled cheekily and licked a strip up the underside, while Gwaine grasped the sheets in his hands and cursed. Merlin continued for a while, just licking, teasing Gwaine until he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the back of Merlin's neck and dragged him up for a heated kiss and Merlin took the chance to grab a tube of lube and a condom from out of the beside drawer. He pushed them into Gwaine's hands,

"Do it," he whispered and he lay down on the bed with his legs open.

Gwaine wasted no time, a lubed finger was pushing at his entrance and Merlin relaxed feeling the digit slide in. He'd only just got used to the first finger when a second joined and started scissoring, making moans and curses tumble from his mouth.

"Fuck-another Gwaine, another!"

Gwaine added a third and Merlin gained a slight sensation of being filled. Then Gwaine curled his fingers and they brushed over the little bud that shot electricity up Merlin's body. He started panting, unable to even form words to convey his need. Gwaine's breathing was also laboured and his husky voice reached Merlin's ears, only serving to make him more frantic.

"Merlin, please God, tell me you're ready. Fuck, you're so tight."

Merlin nodded quickly and Gwaine growled. His fingers pulled out and his cock slid in slowly, Gwaine grunting with the effort of holding back. Merlin whimpered when Gwaine was fully sheathed inside of him, it felt so good to be so full. Merlin hooked a leg over Gwaine as he started to thrust slowly, trying to make him move faster. Gwaine continued his slow pace despite Merlin's best attempts.

"Gwaine, faster" Merlin gasped out and Gwaine's control broke.

Gwaine pulled out and slammed back in and Merlin arched, because yes, this was what he wanted. Merlin shifted slightly and Gwaine's next thrust hit his prostate and Merlin cried out, so Gwaine angled his thrusts and hit the spot every time. Merlin could feel his orgasm building and from Gwaine's groans he sounded pretty close also. Suddenly Gwaine reached down and took Merlin's cock in his hand and tugged. Once, twice, three times and Merlin came, crying out. He clenched down on Gwaine's cock and Gwaine came too, his face buried in Merlin's neck.

Gwaine pulled out, took the condom off, tied it in a knot and threw it in the bin while Merlin wiped himself down with his nearest item of clothing. They lay next to each other for a while, getting their breath back. Merlin was suddenly hit with a thought.

"Gwaine?" he asked, propping himself up on one elbow so he could look at Gwaine's face, "you know I'm not looking for a relationship right?"

"Me neither Merlin, so we'll just call this - friends with benefits," he replied with a smile.

Merlin smiled back, nodded and lay back down, because honestly, he was okay with that.

~#~

Although Merlin and Gwaine hadn't mentioned their situation with anyone, Arthur was obviously going to figure it out at some point. At first, he didn't seem to assume anything, thinking Gwaine was sleeping on the couch, but one morning he brought it up.

"I went to go and get a glass of water last night and you weren't on the couch, where were you?" Arthur had asked Gwaine.

Merlin stiffened slightly, but resumed cooking the scrambled eggs listening intently to Gwaine's answer.

"I was in Merlin's room," Gwaine shrugged, "the couch's uncomfortable and Merlin let me sleep with him."

Arthur had made a noise through his nose but had not said anything more about Gwaine's nightly visits since then. Merlin had deduced that Arthur had figured it out though, if his glares at Gwaine where anything to go by. When Gwaine was over for the night and Arthur left to go to bed he'd shoot the pair of them a look, a look which Merlin thought looked suspiciously like jealousy. But he didn't think about that very often because that brought up thoughts that he wasn't supposed to think about. Arthur also kept trying to spend more time with Merlin, meaning Merlin wasn't free to spend time with Gwaine. He'd invite Merlin to go to the cinema, or go rock climbing and Merlin found himself saying the words, 'not tonight Gwaine, I said I'd go out with Arthur' frequently. It didn't seem to bother Gwaine much though and for that Merlin was grateful. He'd just answer with a cheery 'oh alright then!' and make plans for another night instead. Without fail, Arthur would then always ask Merlin who was on the phone and when Merlin would tell him that he cancelled on Gwaine Arthur would smile his blinding smile and Merlin would forget to be annoyed with him for being so silly about it all.

~#~

Merlin and Elyan were having lunch together a few weeks after Gwaine and Merlin's first 'friends with benefits' session, when Elyan dropped Merlin a little idea to think over.

"So you've found a flat?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, it's not too expensive, nice enough and has four rooms which we wanted, so it's brilliant. Plus Gwen will pretend that she doesn't want me to go, but secretly she'll be thrilled, I think she's been waiting for me to go so Lance can move in," Elyan said enthusiastically.

"Who are you living with?"

"Gwaine and Percy, though I did want to talk to you about that." Elyan took a sip of coffee while Merlin waited. "We need another flatmate and I know you're living rent free with Arthur, but you said it was only supposed to be a short term solution right? Well, the fourth room's always open to you if you want it, Gwaine and Percy said they'd love you to move in if you want."

Merlin sat there speechless. He had been looking for another flat; Arthur had been coming with him because he was a lot more knowledgeable about the property market than Merlin was. However all of the rooms they'd looked at had something wrong according to Arthur, the rent was too high, damp on the walls, badly fitted windows that would let in the cold, whatever it was Arthur spotted it.

Elyan smiled at him and then looked down at his watch,

"Crap! I've got to run! Have a think about it yeah? I'll see you later tonight then!"

~#~

At the end of the day Merlin and Elena were waiting outside of the Teen Scream! 2 set for Gwaine to show up and take them to Gwen's.

"If he doesn't get here soon we're going to be late," Merlin stated looking down at his watch. "But then again, we'll also be late if Arthur doesn't get his ass out here."

Elena giggled and laid a comforting hand on Merlin's arm.

"Don't worry about it Merl, I think this is your friend now."

She pointed at a car making their way down the road and Merlin could see Gwaine sitting in the front, singing along to the music he was listening to. Gwaine pulled up next to Merlin and Elena and jumped out the car.

"Merlin! Sorry, I'm a bit late aren't!" he pulled Merlin into a bear hug and then turned to Elena, his eyes lighting up, "and who's this charming young woman?"

"Gwaine, this is Elena. Elena, this is Gwaine," Merlin introduced. "Right, I'm going to go and get that prat's arse in gear. Be polite." He pointed at Gwaine.

Gwaine pouted, "I'm always polite Merlin."

Merlin rolled his eyes and left them to it. Elena knew how to take care of herself if Gwaine did anything.

When he reached Arthur's dressing room he found Arthur looking at some papers which he hurriedly pushed out of sight when Merlin walked in.

"Come on you prat, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up," Merlin said.

"Right, yes, sorry," Arthur said looking rather flustered. He grabbed his jacket and the two of them walked towards the exit together.

Once everyone was settled in Gwaine's car they set off, Arthur and Merlin in the back seat and Elena in the passengers at Gwaine's insistence. At some point during the conversation Gwaine looked at Merlin in the rear-view mirror and said,

"Hey mate, have you thought anymore about that room with Elyan, Percy and I? Come on it'd be a right laugh!"

Merlin felt rather than saw Arthur stiffen and turn to stare at him. Feeling trapped, Merlin squirmed internally. Yes, the room did sound fantastic and maybe it'd be better to live away from Arthur to help him get over this infatuation he harboured. But he liked living with Arthur, it felt natural and he didn't want to leave Arthur on his own again, it felt too much abandoning a lost puppy.

"Not sure yet Gwaine, I think I'm going to need some more time to think it over," Merlin replied, studiously not looking at Arthur.

Elena then changed the subject to engage Gwaine in conversation and Merlin sighed in relief. He spent the rest of the journey staring out of the window watching the world go by, except he still felt the burn of Arthur's glare on the back of his neck.

~#~

"So, we've invited you all over to make an announcement," Lance said, hugging Gwen around the waist and facing the 20 or so people packed in Gwen's flat. Gwen was beaming around at everyone, looking positively radiant.

Merlin thought he knew what this was about...

"I've proposed to Gwen and she said yes! We're getting married!"

Everyone burst into applause and cheers, rushing forward to offer their congratulations. Merlin hung back and caught Morgana's teary eyes from across the room. They shared a brief look, full of pride at their friends' news; their baby girl was growing up.

Later on into the night Merlin and Morgana were talking when Gwen arrived, flushed from happiness.

"I've been looking for you two everywhere!" she said breathlessly, "I have something to ask you both."

"Shoot," Morgana said a fond smile on her face.

"Morgana, would you be my chief bridesmaid?"

There was a short pause and then Morgana let out an unexpected shriek and flung her arms around Gwen's neck.

"Yes! Oh my God yes!" she squealed.

Gwen patted her on the back, her smile impossibly wide and turned to Merlin who was smiling also.

"Merlin, would you walk me down the aisle with Elyan? I've known you since we were 5, you're like a second brother to me."

Merlin's voice caught in his throat and his eyes burned with tears, but ne nodded all the same. Gwen seemed to understand his overcome feelings. With one last smile at him, Gwen dragged Morgana off to meet some people.

"It seems both of us have been given rather important jobs," a voice said from behind him.

Merlin spun around and found Arthur behind him smiling with happiness. Merlin nodded again, still not trusting himself enough to speak without bursting into tears.

"Lance has asked me to be his best man," Arthur said to Merlin's unspoken question and he drew himself up with pride.

Merlin laughed and flung his arms around Arthur, who returned the hug readily.

"It seems like it's a good night for everyone," Arthur commented, "even Gwaine has managed to bag himself a date with Elena."

"Really? That's brilliant!" Merlin said, finally sure his voice wasn't going to break with emotion.

Arthur pulled back from the hug and looked into Merlin's face, surprise on his features. Merlin just smiled back and Arthur suddenly smiled his blinding smile.

~#~

The wedding took place 2 months later on a sunny day in April, in a small local church. There were only about 60 people there, but Gwen and Lance had insisted that they wanted a small wedding, so they didn't mind. Gwen looked stunning in a vision of white and Leon was eyeing Morgana for the entire day, her pale blue bridesmaid dress fitting her beautifully. Merlin and Elyan proudly walked Gwen down the aisle, Elyan on the left and Merlin on the right and if Merlin cried a little, well it was justified and he was allowed.

As Lance and Gwen said their vows Merlin and Morgana stood to the side holding hands, tears rolling down both their faces.

"You'll be next," Merlin whispered to her, his voice thick with emotion.

She smiled and shook her head slightly but answered him all the same.

"If I am, I want you and Arthur to walk me down the aisle," she murmured.

"I'd be honoured," Merlin said truthfully and squeezed her hand gently.

She squeezed back.

~#~

The meal was held in the town hall, with a melon and raspberry starter, a beautiful chicken dish for the main and tiramisu for dessert. Merlin was feeling pleasantly full on the head table with Gwen, Lance, Morgana, Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Percy and Arthur. He listened to Elyan's speech with warm affection, already knowing the words as he'd helped Elyan write it and he looked on with warm feelings when Gwen leapt up and hugged Elyan at the end, tears running down her face. He awww'd throughout Lance's speech, his loving words causing tears to spring in Merlin's eyes as well as Gwen's. Finally, Arthur stood up to give his speech and Merlin sat up in his chair and gave his full attention. Arthur had spent sleepless nights working on his speech and wouldn't let Merlin even glimpse it, refusing all offers of help. Merlin had heard him fretting to Lance that it wasn't long enough.

"I've known Lance since we were teenagers and I can't think of anyone who is as loyal, kind and brave as he is. Gwen is the perfect match for him, her own kind and caring nature making them soul mates. The two of them were practically married from the very first moment they laid eyes on each other; you would have been blind not to see it. I really can't think of two people who are more perfect for each other, I would love to be in their marriage, I imagine it will be any persons idea of bliss. Their relationship has taught me something also. I never really believed in true love, but after seeing Gwen and Lance together I am more than convinced that it exists and I will do anything to make sure that my true love doesn't get away."

Arthur was looking straight at Merlin, as was Gwen with a small but knowing smile on her face. Merlin blushed and clapped along with everyone else, repeating Arthur's last sentence in his head. Was Arthur really talking about him? Gwen and Lance took to the dance floor for their first dance, waltzing to Like a Star by Corinne Bailey Rae. Merlin watched them along with everyone else until someone tapped him on the shoulder, it was Arthur.

"Can we talk?" he half shouted over the music.

Merlin nodded and followed Arthur into the car park. Arthur stood there looking at Merlin for so long that Merlin thought that he wasn't actually going to say anything.

"Arthur what's thi-" he started but for a change Arthur cut across him instead.

"No, don't talk, let me talk this time." He took a deep breath, "I know we said we'd never talk about it but I want to." Merlin didn't even need to ask what he meant. "I want to say I'm sorry and that everything you said that day was right. My father is trying to dictate my life and I don't want that. I want to be happy and doing what my father wants all the time isn't making me happy. You make me happy Merlin. When you and Gwaine started your thing, I was so jealous. He had everything I'd wanted for so long; he could do anything and everything he wanted with you. I tried not to think about it but every time I saw you together I couldn't help but picture myself in his place. I behaved terribly then, trying to stop you seeing him when I could. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know whether you two are serious and if you are I'm sorry for bringing this all up again, but I need to. I meant what I said in my speech, I'm going to do everything and anything I can to keep my true love and I believe that's you Merlin. I've never felt this way about anyone before and I'm not ready to give that up yet. I don't want you to move out of the flat either, I want you to live with me until we're old and grey, because, God help me Merlin, I love you."

Tears were glistening in Arthur's eyes as he looked at the floor and Merlin felt like a bolt of lightning had just thundered down from the sky and struck him where he stood. His entire body was tingling and his heart seemed to have swelled to three times his normal size. His mouth was dry and his stomach was full of butterflies. He couldn't form a thought and he seemed to have frozen. Then Arthur looked up at him, his emotions bared for Merlin to see and something inside Merlin broke. He surged forwards and captured Arthur's mouth in a kiss.

"I'm yours," Merlin breathed across Arthur's lips, "I'm yours and I always have been. I love you."

Arthur grinned, full of happiness and took Merlin's hand.

"Let's go and slow dance" he suggested and kissed Merlin chastely.

Slow dancing sounded good Merlin mused as Arthur lead them back to the wedding party.


End file.
